AFP knew all about Bali nine

Page Tools

Nine days before nine young Australians were arrested in a
heroin smuggling sting in Bali, Australian police knew almost
everything: who they were, where they would stay, when they would
try to leave, even how they would strap the drugs to their
bodies.

It was a crime not yet committed but with terrible consequences
if it was discovered in Indonesia: the death penalty. Yet on April
8, the Australian Federal Police wrote to their Indonesian
counterparts outlining in extraordinary detail what would take
place. They named the alleged ringleader, Andrew Chan. And they
told the Indonesians: "If you suspect Chan and/or the couriers are
carrying drugs at the time of their departure, please take whatever
action you deem necessary."

The Indonesians did. On April 17, Chan and four others were
arrested at Denpasar Airport. Scott Rush, Michael Czugaj, Renae
Lawrence and Martin Stephens had heroin strapped to their bodies.
Another four, Myuran Sukumaran, Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, Si Yi Chen
and Matthew Norman, were arrested soon after at a Bali hotel. All
nine are now on trial.

Rather than waiting to grab the suspects in Sydney, Australian
officers did not try to stop Indonesian police from arresting the
group, the letters suggest. Rush and Lawrence accuse the AFP of
exposing them to the death penalty and have taken legal action
against them in Darwin.

The letters, copies of which the Herald has seen, are
dated April 8 and April 12, are written in Indonesian and signed by
Paul Hunniford, the AFP's liaison officer in Bali. They are headed:
"Heroin couriers from Bali to Australia, currently in Bali."

The April 8 letter starts by detailing a failed operation in
December 2004, and then moves to the April attempt.

"They will be carrying body packs (with white powder) back to
Australia with packs on both legs and also with back supports. They
have already been given the back supports. The packs will be
strapped to their bodies. They will be given money to exchange for
local currency to purchase oversized loose shirts and sandals."
None of the clothing would have metal elements, to avoid activating
airport detectors.

Chan, the letter says, returned to Bali on April 3, and was
staying at the Hard Rock Cafe. On April 6, Lawrence, Norman,
Stephens and Chen flew to Bali. On April 8, the day the letter was
sent, Nguyen, Czugaj and Rush joined them. The AFP provided
passport numbers for all eight, and according to evidence heard at
Czugaj's trial, provided black and white photos.

In the April 12 letter, labelled "Additional Intelligence", Mr
Hunniford notes the intended departure date for five of the nine,
and says Chan "will not be carrying drugs", but would have an
oversight role on the plane and would "take over the drugs as soon
as they arrive in Australia".

The letters do not predict the correct departure date -
initially thought to be April 14 - and two of those named as
couriers were not among the five caught at the airport. But the
April 12 letter does contain an instruction that tallies with what
took place on April 17: to arrest those members of the group at the
hotel as soon as the airport bust was complete.

The letters were referred to several times during Czugaj's trial
yesterday as two witnesses - Made Maja, an Indonesian policeman,
and Nyoman Gatra, an intelligence officer - detailed the Indonesian
surveillance operation prompted by the April 8 letter. The men said
the involvement of Sukumaran only became apparent during the
Indonesian phase of the operation.

Czugaj, asked by a judge to respond to the testimony, said the
AFP was wrong in identifying him as a heroin courier in the April 8
letter. Through an interpreter, the 19-year-old said he was in Bali
"to enjoy a holiday" offered by Nguyen. "Only at the end of the
holiday" did things change; he was pressured to take part in the
smuggling operation.

The trial was adjourned for 90 minutes after Czugaj complained
he had not eaten breakfast and had a headache. When the hearing
resumed, Czugaj said he was still too sick to continue despite
having been fed and given medication. The trial was adjourned until
Tuesday.

Earlier, Lawrence and Sukumaran heard the response to defence
arguments that their cases should be dismissed. Prosecutors said
the defence claims were ill-founded. Judges will rule on the
challenges on Friday.